a spindle splintered by Alix E. Harrow

90th book of 2021

First book in the Fractured Fable series

Reading period: November 04th 2021 – November 05th 2021

Summary

It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no one has lived past twenty-one.

Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

Trigger Warning

Terminal illness, chronic illness, rape (mentioned)

Rating

None

Review

This book was easy to read, which is a big plus when you have a reading slump. That’s what I like about a short book, especially one that reimagines fairytales with a prominent sisterhood tone.

The main character is a fan of Sleeping Beauty and knows all the stories, even the goriest ones. This fact is used in the story to create a complete one, which I liked a lot.

I didn’t know that when buying this book, but you have drawings on nearly every page. It’s designed exactly like a middle-grade book without being one. The only problem with those drawings was that they didn’t feel like part of the story. Like they are telling another story and a creepier one.

The only issue I had was the writing. First, the way we start the book makes you feel like non-fiction, at least on the first page. Second, I struggled with the language used by the characters. You have on one side a modern girl from our world and on the other a princess from a fairytale in a medieval setting. The problem is that they talk like they are from the same world and environment. They don’t have any reaction or issue with it like they are used to it. This problem was the one that sometimes put me off my reading.

I discover while reading it that it’s a series, and as we will follow a new fairytale, which is heavily hinted at in the book, I will continue to read it.

Liz.